ERIC Number: EJ898480
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Sep
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0098-6291
EISSN: N/A
"What's My Angle Here?" An Exercise in Invention
Engbers, Susanna Kelly
Teaching English in the Two-Year College, v38 n1 p63-67 Sep 2010
Each semester the author asks her first-year composition students to write a profile essay. The assignment, based on one in "St Martin's Guide to Writing," requires that students develop a thesis ("dominant impression" or "angle") about a place that they visit. The author is convinced that this essay is one of the most valuable and challenging that students write over the course of the semester. The idea of creating a fresh and engaging thesis out of the raw materials of their firsthand experience often perplexes students, who may think of a thesis statement as something that emerges only from the dark and mysterious recesses of secondary research in books and periodicals. So when it comes to creating thesis statements for their profile essays, most students need help. The invention strategy described in this article is designed to provide some help. In this classroom exercise, the author offers a series of prompts to which students respond, based on the notes they took during their own observation. After completing the series of prompts, students have a wealth of ideas from which to draw their thesis statement.
Descriptors: Freshman Composition, Profiles, Theses, Essays, Writing Strategies, Writing Instruction, Teaching Methods, Cues, Observation, Instructional Films, Class Activities, Notetaking
National Council of Teachers of English. 1111 West Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096. Tel: 877-369-6283; Tel: 217-328-3870; Web site: http://www.ncte.org/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A